


12 Days of Holidays

by orphan_account



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Baking, Blow Jobs, Carlos is a Dork, Carlos is a Good Boyfriend, Christmas Decorations, Cookies, Costume Parties & Masquerades, F/F, F/M, Freeform, Genius Carlos de Vil, Gift Exchange, Gift Fic, Gift Giving, Gifts, Holiday specials, Holidays, Home for Christmas, Kinky, M/M, Minor Evie/Mal (Disney), Mistletoe, Multi, Parties, Party, Porn, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Public Blow Jobs, Public Display of Affection, Service Dogs, Singing, Smut, Snow, Songs, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Ugly Sweaters, caroling, deardescendants, free prompt, holiday movies, holiday party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21796738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: DAY ONE ; DECEMBER 14TH - MISTLETOECarlos nerds out about holidays and traditions, but when faced with a tradition - how will he react?
Relationships: Evie & Carlos de Vil, Evie & Jay (Disney), Evie & Mal (Disney), Evie/Carlos de Vil, Evie/Jay/Mal/Carlos de Vil, Evie/Mal (Disney), Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Mal (Disney), Jay/Carlos de Vil, Jay/Mal (Disney), Mal/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30
Collections: DearDescendants' 12 Days of Holidays





	1. Mistletoe & Other Holiday Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> PDA & Teenage Boys

“Hey Jay? Did you know that they have so many holidays that are celebrated around this time? They have Kwanzaa, Christmas, Hanukkah, and something called Ōmisoka,” Carlos squinted at the last holiday, pretty sure he butchered the pronunciation. He was interested in what exactly Auradon was celebrating, so he looked into traditional holidays and traditions that came with holiday parties.  
He’d been staring at his computer screen for over two hours, writing notes on holidays and why they were celebrated. When Jay came back to their room from Tourney practice, Carlos started bombarding him with “fun facts” that Jay didn’t care about.  
“C. Please, no more fun facts. I know you’re a total nerd about these things, but I just spent an hour and a half running around and I’m tired. I’ll let you nerd out, but only if you do it in the shower with me,” Jay yawned loudly and stripped out of his practice clothes. Carlos flushed at the sight of his nearly fully naked boyfriend at the foot of his bed.  
“O-Okay,” Carlos barely managed to squeak out before sliding out of his bed and speed walking into the bathroom to avoid the sight of Jay’s naked body. He quickly pulled off his shorts and shirt, leaving just his boxers.  
Jay appeared behind him just seconds later, his own boxers missing, covered only by two towels he was holding in front of himself. Carlos held his breath, both wanting Jay to drop the towels, but also keep it up there. He didn’t think he could handle seeing his naked boyfriend at the moment. Thankfully, Jay moved to turn on the shower so his back was to Carlos.  
“How warm do you want it, pup?” Jay asked, not turning to face Carlos, not knowing if Carlos wanted Jay to see him fully naked just yet. Of course this wasn’t the first time they’d showered together, but they’d always averted their eyes so they wouldn’t see each other.  
When Carlos didn’t reply, Jay turned around to see his boyfriend with his head in his hands, leaning against the sink, his mouth moving, but no words coming out. Jay moved quickly over to where Carlos was standing and placed a hand on his back, preparing for Carlos to flinch away like he always did. When he didn’t, Jay started to move his hand up and down his boyfriend’s back, feeling Carlos taking shaky, uneven breaths.  
“Hey, you alright?” Jay was quiet, careful to not push Carlos too much. Carlos managed to nod his head twice, not verbally replying. Jay took a breath, thankful that Carlos was at least still able to hear Jay, not fully gone yet.  
Sometimes Carlos would get auditory hallucinations that led to him going non-verbal and dissociating. He never told Jay about the hallucinations, but he told him about the dissociating - not wanting Jay to worry too much.  
“Let’s get in the shower, okay?” Jay slipped a hand into Carlos’s, leading him to the shower. He made sure that when he pulled Carlos’s boxers down, he looked away. Carlos managed to step into the shower, but he almost immediately sat down away from the stream of water, letting Jay step into the water and start to clean himself.  
Jay worried about his boyfriend during times like this. Carlos never stayed in a state like this for longer than a couple minutes, sometimes shorter if Jay was able to get his attention before he slipped into complete dissociation.  
“Can I still hear more about the holiday traditions?” Jay asked, hoping this would help Carlos come back to him and go off on another nerd tangent that he found super hot (Carlos, on the other hand, felt bad for rambling for so long about menial things).  
“They bake cookies and do gift exchanges, they call it white elephant, for some reason,” Carlos was quiet, but talking to Jay. Jay smiled to himself, thankful that Carlos was back. “Uh, they, uh, they have this thing called mistletoe…” Carlos started rambling as Jay started to fantasize about making out with his boyfriend.  
-  
“Carlos? Jay? Are you boys ready for the party?” Evie knocked on the door, startling the two boys on the bed. She opened the door without much of a warning, Mal right behind her. Jay practically flung himself off the bed while Carlos stayed flat on his back, his face and neck were burning - a sure sign that he was red.  
“Were you two making out?” Mal’s voice was flat as she examined the state of Carlos’s neck and the fact that Jay’s hair was messy, despite having been pulled back in a half bun. She noticed a spot on Jay’s neck, one that matched Carlos’s mouth. “Oh, Hades, you WERE!” Mal started laughing.  
“Finally, we thought you two were never going to do it. You guys have basically been dating for, like, a year, you just never noticed,” Evie smiled at the boys, helping Carlos readjust his jacket and shorts. She turned her head to Jay, “You might want to fix your hair.”  
“You little-” Jay growled at Carlos, who gave him a wicked grin in return. “You promised you wouldn’t mess it up!” Carlos pointed to his own hair, laughing at Jay’s confused look.  
“You were in my hair, I only figured it was fair I got in yours, too. Plus, that promise didn’t carry over from last night,” Carlos shrugged and grabbed Dude’s leash, not wanting to go to a party (or a “small get together” as everyone put it when talking directly to him) without a little distraction. Jay groaned and went into the bathroom to fix his hair before they left.  
-  
“Hey guys, thank you so much for coming!” Jane looked from Mal to Evie, then to Jay and then to Carlos, her eyes lingering on him a bit too long for Jay’s liking. He took Carlos’s hand (the one without the leash) and pulled him away from the girl with a forced grin. Dude happily trotted next to Carlos, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he walked.  
“Hey Jay, can we stop and get something to drink? Dude needs some water after walking all the way over here,” Carlos looked up and over at Jay with his infamous puppy dog eyes.  
“Of course, you don’t have to use those eyes on me, I don’t think I’d ever be able to say no to you,” Jay bent down to Carlos’s level and gave him a quick peck to his cheek. “You stay here, I’ll find us some drinks and a bowl for some water. Sound good?” Carlos nodded and obediently sat down in a chair, offering Dude a spot on the chair next to him.  
A minute later Jay returned, juggling two cups of punch for the two humans and a bowl full of water for Dude, who happily yapped from the chair next to Carlos - the only chair next to Carlos. Carlos motioned for Dude to jump down and drink on the floor so Jay could sit.  
“Thank you, Jay,” Carlos smiled and took a small sip of the punch before twisting his face in disgust. “Never mind, what kind of punch is this?” Jay shrugged his shoulders, taking a sip from his own drink and promptly spitting it back out.  
“Jane made it, you’ll have to tell her that it’s gross,” Jay smiled, knowing that Carlos couldn’t be mean to the girl if his life depended on it. Carlos rolled his eyes, setting the cup down on the floor next to his feet.  
“It’s not what she said it was going to be. She told me it was going to be fruit punch, then let me taste what she was making. That’s not it, and I told her that it was perfect that way it was,” Carlos shook his head, not understanding why she changed it so drastically. He stood up and wordlessly handed Jay the leash he’d been gripping onto before slowly making his way over to Jane. Jay kept a close eye on the girl, but he also moved his gaze around the room, setting sights on Mal and Evie across the room, Evie laughing quietly to a joke Ben had told them.  
Carlos came back quickly, a hand outstretched for Dude’s leash. Jay handed it over immediately, noticing that Carlos had a frown on his face. He sat back down next to his boyfriend, Dude had moved to sit right next to Carlos’s feet, letting Carlos know that he was right there if he needed him. Carlos absentmindedly bent over to be able to scratch behind Dude’s ears as he thought.  
“Hey C? You alright?” Jay nudged the boy, startling him in the process. Carlos snapped his head up to meet Jay’s gaze, holding eye contact for a second longer than he normally would.  
Suddenly Carlos leaned over and kissed Jay roughly. The movement took Jay by surprise and he pulled back from Carlos. Carlos was bright red, his fingers were twisted in Dude’s leash so tightly that he was starting to lose feeling in them.  
“What was that about? Usually you’re telling me to chill out with the P.D.A.,” Jay let out a small laugh, causing Carlos to lean over and hide his face in his lap. He managed to call Dude up onto his lap and was holding him closely, his face buried in Dude’s fur as he let out a groan.  
“Mistletoe, Jay. We’re sitting under mistletoe,” Carlos barely moved his face away from Dude’s fur before pulling Dude impossibly closer and burying himself in the dog again. Jay blanked on the mistletoe, not having remembered when Carlos told him about it.  
“Sorry, I’m blanking, mistletoe means you have to kiss me?” Jay questioned, his head cocked to the side in confusion.  
“Basically yes. I don’t understand it either, but apparently when two people are caught under mistletoe together, they are supposed to kiss. I don’t know why, but we’re under mistletoe and Jane mentioned that we were so I had to kiss you. And yeah, I have to tell you to calm down with the public affection because of the one time you tried to put your hand down my pants in the middle of the science wing. So, I get to tell you to chill. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve been thinking about some really bad things, so I need to go take care of that. I’ll be back,” Carlos tried to sneak a look down at his crotch, Dude had skillfully hidden it from Jay’s line of sight, up until now.  
“Why do it alone? I can help, you know?” Jay smirked and ghosted his hand over Carlos’s crotch before giving him another deep kiss. Carlos let out a strangled whine as Jay slowly pressed down.  
“Jay, we’re in public, please not right here,” Carlos managed to pull himself away from his boyfriend long enough to catch his breath and plead with Jay to go back to their dorm room to finish up the evening's festivities, which Jay happily obliged to.


	2. Snow Day Disasters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY TWO ; DECEMBER 15TH - SNOW   
> The four Isle kids witness snow for the first time. With a snow ball fight in order, what could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gets a little risqué at the end, whoops

“Guys, wake up! Oh my god, are you guys cuddling, that’s adorable!” Evie barely knocked before bursting into the boys room dressed in a warm coat and boots to match. Carlos and Jay barely had their eyes open before Mal came running in and had jumped onto their bed and started jumping up and down by their feet.  
“Go away, why are you here so early?” Jay grumbled, covering his face with the blanket. Carlos, unfortunately, wasn’t so lucky to get the blanket covering him and he was left exposed to his friends while just in his boxer shorts.  
Carlos swore at the sudden coolness against his bare legs and torso. He tried to pull the blanket back over himself, but Jay was stronger than he was, so Carlos was stuck trying to push Jay out of the bed. Mal jumped down and started to pull on Jay’s feet. He groaned and covered Carlos completely with the blanket and rolled over on top of his boyfriend.  
“Jay, I can’t breathe,” Carlos’s breathing sped up and he was frantically trying to claw his way out from under Jay and the blanket. Jay immediately rolled off of him and uncovered him. He immediately was checking Carlos over, even though he knew Carlos was physically alright, he just got overwhelmed by the lack of space.  
“Hey, we’re gonna let you guys get dressed, and dress warm. Meet us outside by the side door in ten minutes,” Mal said. She grabbed Evie’s hand and pulled her out of the room, letting Carlos calm down and Jay apologise profusely even though Carlos would adamantly tell him that it was okay.  
-  
“Mal told you to dress warm, why the hell are you wearing shorts?” Evie chastised Carlos as soon as they walked out the door. Carlos looked down at his shorts and boots combination and then looked at Evie and shrugged.  
“I don’t like pants, I don’t like the feeling. Also, I brought Dude, I hope that’s okay,” Carlos looked down at the dog sitting at his feet, staring up at him happily.  
“That’s perfectly fine, C, tell us if you get cold and we’ll go inside,” Mal bent down and scratched behind Dude’s ears. He let out a small ‘woof’ and licked Mal’s fingers.  
“What the hell is this stuff?” Jay kicked his boot at the white powder-y stuff on the ground.  
“It’s called snow, and it’s wonderful!” Evie gathered a handful and tossed it into the air with a grin. Carlos and Jay both jumped back, not wanting to be hit by the weird substance. Mal gathered a handful and packed it into a ball and threw it at Jay, who caught it.  
“Dude, you aren’t supposed to catch it,” Mal laughed and packed another one. “You’re just supposed to throw it at the other people.” She threw another one at Carlos, who didn’t catch it.  
It wasn’t long before the four teenagers were throwing snowballs at each other with Dude yapping happily and running around the lawn with them, trying to protect his owner and his “co-owner” from the onslaught of snowballs from the girls.  
It soon turned into every man for himself and everyone was throwing snowballs at everyone. Carlos ended up tossing a small one up in the air for Dude, who loved it. He had leaped into the air to catch it and ended up getting a face full of snow that hadn’t quite been packed together. It made Mal and Evie double over with laughter, leaving themselves vulnerable to Jay’s attack.  
They both got hit in the chest, screaming at the attack. Carlos packed a snowball together and threw it at Jay, who yelped in pain. Carlos immediately ran over and dropped to his knees, looking over Jay’s face and seeing the blood start to drip down out of his nose.  
“Jay, your nose is bleeding… I think I broke your nose,” Carlos whimpered, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “Oh, oh Hades, this is not good. I’m so sorry.” Carlos was grasping onto the front of Jay’s jacket with both hands. Tears spilling from his eyes, no sign of stopping.  
“C. Pup, it’s okay. How did you even do that?” Jay managed a laugh between a wince of pain and a sharp inhale. Carlos let out a small whimper and tried to stop the bleeding with his hands.  
“Boys, let’s go inside. We have first aid stuff in both our rooms, our room is closer, when we get there, I can fix it there,” Mal said, trying to help Jay up while Carlos was still clinging to his boyfriend. “C, let go of the man and lets go. You can tell me how you managed to break his nose with a snowball, of all things.”  
“I didn’t know there was ice in it, okay! It’s not my fault!” Carlos was sobbing into Jay’s chest, trying to calm himself down. Jay pushed him away, cupping Carlos’s face in his hands.  
“Hey, it’s okay. It happens and I’m not mad at you. It was an accident, and accidents happen,” Jay kissed him through the blood that dripped onto his lips. Carlos gave him a disgusted look and wiped off his lips and the drying tears on his face.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Carlos gave him a hug before pulling him inside with the girls and Dude trailing right behind them.  
-  
“So, I found the spell to fit minor broken bones, so I can fix your nose for you!” Mal snapped her spellbook closed and grinned at Jay. Jay looked at Carlos with a worried look. “Okay, I know it’s been a while since I fixed any broken bones, but I was good at it! I mean, Carlos, I fixed your collarbone and your leg - twice!” Mal defended.  
“I’ll give you that. It did hurt a lot, but only for a few seconds, and then everything feels normal again. Although, you never did my nose, even though I asked you to. My septum is deviated, you know. I went to the doctor and they check up my nose and in my ears. Apparently it’s deviated, but oh well. If you fix Jay’s nose, we can clean him up and then we can go lay down and recover,” Carlos rambled for a minute before catching himself and sitting down next to Jay, grabbing ahold of his hand.  
“Okay, let’s do this,” Jay took in a deep breath, preparing himself for Mal’s magic on his face.  
-  
“It’s like it was never even broken,” Carlos gave Jay a quick kiss on the bridge of his nose. Jay returned the gesture with a kiss to both his cheeks, making him blush.  
“I can’t believe you hit me with an ice ball, I deserve some type of compensation,” Jay let out a laugh and watched the blush rise to the tips of Carlos’s ears.  
“I didn’t know that you knew what the word ‘compensation’ meant,” Carlos laughed and swung one leg over Jay’s lap, straddling him and wrapping his arms around his neck and kissing him. “I said I was sorry, was that not enough for you?”  
“I was thinking maybe payback,” Jay kissed his nose. “Or a blow-job?” He raised his eyebrows at his boyfriend, giving him a suggestive wink along with it. Carlos gave him a wicked grin and started grinding down on Jay’s lap, listening to him swear softly under his breath. “Yeah, this, this will work as payback…”  
“Thought so,” Carlos smirked and kissed Jay again before moving down to the floor, pulling his pants down as he went, staring up at Jay through his eyelashes as he positioned himself on his knees.


	3. Two A.M. Mischief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY THREE ; DECEMBER 16TH - BAKING  
> Teenage boys are notorious for breaking rules, but Jay didn’t see a rule against this...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: NSFW – blowjob lol

Jay had snuck Carlos into the kitchen at two in the morning to bake cookies. He remembered that Carlos had mentioned that people in Auradon would bake cookies during the holiday season. Maybe they could find a recipe and bake some awful cookies. Carlos, unhappy to be woken, stumbled behind Jay as he allowed himself to be led down the stairs from their dorm room.  
“Jay, why have you woken me up? That was the first time I’ve been able to properly sleep in days,” Carlos whined and rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the lights in the kitchen. He still hadn’t figured out where they were.  
“Because, C, we’re making cookies!” Jay gave Carlos a lopsided grin as Carlos stared at him in disbelief.  
“You’re fucking with me, right? You did not wake me up at two in the morning to bake cookies?” Carlos was understandably upset with Jay, but upon seeing the dopey grin on the other boys face, he couldn’t stay mad for long.  
“Well, I remember you saying something about baking cookies for the holidays, so I figured we could make cookies too,” Jay trained his eyes on Carlos, watching the other boy fidget with the sleeves on his sweater nervously, waiting to be caught out of their room after curfew.  
“If we get caught, I’m going to kill you,” Carlos muttered under his breath, walking over to the refrigerator and grabbing ingredients. He knew one cookie recipe by heart and it’s only because he and Evie had helped make cookies and brownies for a bake sale. Jay had no idea that they’d done that, so this all came as a surprise to him.  
He watched Carlos wordlessly move around the kitchen, gathering a couple ingredients at a time and placing them on the counter, moving them into a specific order, one that didn’t necessarily make sense to Jay, but he knew the order made sense to Carlos. He also knew that if the order got messed with, Carlos would not hesitate to punch whoever messed with it. It was one of the Isle things that stuck with him, it also made Jay extremely proud of the scrawny teen.  
“Hey, C, how do you know all this?” Jay asked, eyeing all the ingredients laid out on the counter in front of them. Carlos turned bright red as he ducked his head and let his curls bounce around his head. Jay took one of his fingers and lifted Carlos’s head up to look at him.  
“Evie and I had baked before,” Carlos whispered, suddenly embarrassed by the fact that he could cook. “Jeez, I sound so dumb…” Carlos pulled away from Jay, trying to mask how uncomfortable he was with a small laugh. Jay didn’t buy it for a second.  
“That’s fuckin’ hot, C. I love that you can bake,” Jay moved toward Carlos, wrapping his arms around Carlos’s waist and lifting him off the ground before placing him down on a nearby counter, kissing him.  
“Babe! You said we were going to make cookies, this is not making cookies,” Carlos playfully swatted at Jay’s chest, trying to jump down from the counter. Jay wouldn’t let him.  
“It’ll be there when I’m done with you,” Jay shot back quickly, winking at his boyfriend. Carlos turned a darker shade of red, covering his face with his hands. “You’re sexy, stop hiding your face.”  
“Jay, you’re gross. Stop. I want to make cookies now,” Carlos whined, slipping past Jay and grabbing a bowl and measuring cups. Jay looked over his shoulder, glancing at his boyfriend before noticing that his sweatpants were slightly tighter than usual.  
“Not now, no,” Jay hissed, glaring at his crotch, hopefully not loud enough for Carlos to hear. He didn’t.  
Even though they were in close proximity, both boys suffered from untreated ear infections when they were younger, causing hearing loss, Carlos had it worse than Jay, completely deaf in one of his ears and partially deaf in the other. It helped Carlos during big events, while still a little bit too loud, it wasn’t as loud as it could be. Jay hated it, he had trouble hearing his teammates as well as his teachers.  
“You gonna come help me out here?” Carlos laughed, noticing Jay turned toward the pantry. He set down the bowl and measuring cups before walking back over to Jay and wrapping his arms around Jay’s waist.  
“Only if you help me first,” Jay responded, grabbing Carlos’s hands and moving them down to his crotch. He turned his head slightly to see that Carlos’s face was bright red. “If you want to.”  
Carlos could only nod his head, unable to make his mouth work. He kept one hand on Jay’s hip as he moved the other hand into his shorts, staying over his boxers, though. He could feel how hard Jay was and it made his face heat up even more than it already was. He palmed at Jay’s cock, feeling Jay’s legs buckle a bit.  
“Get up on the counter,” Carlos laughed, motioning to the countertop in front of them. Jay pulled down his sweatpants and jumped onto the counter, smiling down at Carlos, waiting for him to come over.  
Carlos grinned and walked over to Jay, forgetting all about the cookies he was excited to make. He stood on his tiptoes and kissed Jay, moving his hands up Jay’s thighs, ghosting over his cock and then back down. Jay moaned into the kiss, nipping at Carlos’s bottom lip.  
At the feeling of Jay nipping his lip, Carlos slipped a hand under Jay’s boxers, quickly pumping Jay’s cock. Jay lifted his hips, gripping onto the counter with a death grip. Carlos, grinning wickedly, pushed Jay’s hips back down and before Jay could protest anything, he bent over and took as much of Jay’s cock into his mouth as he could. Jay let out a high pitched moan and grabbed fistfuls of Carlos’s hair.  
Carlos started sucking, listening to Jay moan his name. He kept a steady pace, looking up at Jay, waiting for him to look down. In response to Jay’s moans, he moved one hand to play with his balls and moaned around his cock.  
“C. I’m gonna come, I’m so close. Holy shit. Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jay babbled, gripping Carlos’s hair and pulling. Carlos continued to suck, swirling his tongue around the tip of Jay’s dick and frenulum.  
As soon as Carlos started to take Jay’s cock fully into his mouth, Jay groaned and bucked his hips, hitting the back of Carlos’s throat, cumming down his throat. Carlos pulled off, letting some of Jay’s come trickle out of his mouth as he smiled at Jay.  
Jay was breathing heavily, his hands back on the counter. He looked down at Carlos. Carlos, with the come on his chin. Carlos, with the shit-eating grin on his face. Carlos, with the puppy dog eyes. Carlos, batting his eyes at Jay like he didn’t just give the best blow job of his life.  
“Do you want to make cookies now?” he asked. Jay laughed, shaking his head at Carlos.  
“I need a minute to collect myself, pup. You fuckin’ wrecked me,” Jay responded, running his hands through Carlos’s hair gently. “I love you.”  
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I love you too. I’m gonna start on the cookies without you,” Carlos finally wiped the come off his chin with his finger. He looked Jay in the eyes before putting his finger in his mouth and sucking it clean.  
“Gimme a minute,” Jay stared at Carlos with a glint in his eyes, planning his revenge.


	4. Braids and Other Cute Things to do With Your Boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY FOUR ; DECEMBER 17TH - HOLIDAY MOVIE  
> Can you really blame Jay for not being able to focus on a movie when his boyfriend is so much prettier?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no TWs - just cute boyfriend stuff 
> 
> day four of the deardescendants holiday writing!!

“Babe, let’s watch a movie!” Carlos whined, sprawled out across Jay’s bed as Jay played video games on his phone. Jay grumbled a response, not that Carlos was listening. He kept whining and wiggling on top of his boyfriend.  
“C. We can watch a movie, lemme finish this round and I’ll be ready, okay?” Jay replied, finally having enough of Carlos rubbing his bony body all over him. Carlos cheered and hopped off Jay’s bed, searching through his bag for something.  
“Doug is letting me borrow this, he said it’s a Christmas classic,” Carlos pulled a movie out, the title read _‘The Nightmare Before Christmas.’_  
Jay put his phone down and sat up in his bed, holding his hand out for Carlos to place the movie in. When he did, Jay quickly read over the synopsis of the film, tilting his head in confusion.  
“This seems like a Halloween movie?” Jay looked up at Carlos, his head tilted to the side. He didn’t understand, but allowed Carlos to take the movie back and put the disk in.  
Carlos crawled onto Jay’s bed, getting under the covers and waited for Jay to join him. When it took Jay a few seconds longer, Carlos peered out from under the covers, looking around to find Jay bent over the edge of the bed, rummaging through the bottom drawer in his bedside table. He reappeared moments later, holding snacks in both hands as well as in his mouth.  
Carlos gave a grin and snatched two of the bags from Jay and disappeared under the covers again. Jay joined him seconds later, munching on his own snacks. The boys shared a quick kiss before uncovering themselves to start the movie.  
-  
“C, I wanna cuddle,” Jay whined, trying to pull Carlos down to lay with him. Carlos did not budge, he was focused solely on the movie and nothing Jay did could change that. Jay tried tickling him and tried kissing Carlos’s neck and ears, nothing seemed to faze the boy.  
“Babe! Stop it,” Carlos squirmed away from Jay, but kept his focus solely on the movie in front of them. Jay groaned and moved closer to his boyfriend, wanting to watch, but also wanting to cuddle.  
“Come cuddle with me! You can still focus on the movie while laying down with your boyfriend!” Jay snuggled his head in Carlos’s lap, letting Carlos play with his hair. “You know, you could braid my hair, or something…”  
Carlos never looked away from the television screen as he started brushing through Jay’s hair with his fingers. His eyes were wide as Jack fell into Christmastown, holding Jay’s sectioned hair in his hands. He hadn’t started braiding, he had barely started to section it out when the movie captured all his attention again.  
Jay nudged Carlos’s hands with his head, forcing Carlos to actually move. He startled and restarted sectioning. Jay let out a quiet laugh, allowing Carlos to swiftly braid his hair into an elegant braid, effortlessly. It took him less than ten minutes to style Jay’s hair, tying it at the bottom. When Jay felt Carlos move a bit on the bed, he sat up, feeling the braid in his hair.  
“Holy shit, dude. How does it look?” Jay asked, trying to look at it through his phone camera. Carlos simply rolled his eyes and took Jay’s phone away from him and took a picture of the back of Jay’s head for him.  
Jay’s mouth dropped open in awe, kissing Carlos, forgetting all about the movie. Carlos gave him a quick peck back before pushing him back onto the bed. He laughed and turned back to the television, putting his chin in his hands, staring in awe at what was happening in the movie.  
Jay couldn’t focus on the movie at all, he propped himself up on his elbows and watched Carlos as he focused on the movie by himself.  
“You’re so fucking handsome, Carlos de Vil,” Jay muttered under his breath, silently pleading that Carlos wouldn’t hear him, but also hoping that he did.  
“Jay, did you say something?” Carlos paused the movie and turned to face Jay, thinking something might be wrong. Jay continued to stare at his boyfriend, not responding to his question. “Babe? What’s going on with you?” Carlos questioned, raising a worried eyebrow.  
Jay shook his head, knowing that Carlos was already worried. He gave Carlos a small smile and moved up to kiss his cheek. Carlos was blushing, watching Jay’s movements closely.  
“Nothing’s wrong, C, you’re just more interesting and more handsome than the movie. I could watch you all day,” Jay admitted, holding onto one of Carlos’s hands. He lifted it to his lips and kissed his knuckles.  
“Oh, Jay, you’re a huge sap! You know that, right? I love you so, so much,” Carlos wrapped his arms around Jay, holding onto him tightly. Jay returned the hug, whispering into Carlos’s ear.  
“I love you too, baby. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m so glad I have you in my life and I get to call you mine. I’ll never get tired of hearing you nerd out over science and engineering and animals. I’ll never get tired of waking up to your beautiful face in the mornings. I’ll never get tired of you,” Jay littered Carlos’s neck with kisses as he spoke. He listened for Carlos to tell him to stop, but it never came.  
“Jay, I hope you know how much you mean to me. You saved my life and I’ll never be able to repay you for that. You care so deeply about the people in your life and the things you do. I love watching you learn and be able to show off your skills. I love seeing you happy,” Carlos kissed Jay sweetly, moving his arms to hold his face. They spent minutes wrapped together, the movie forgotten entirely.


	5. Tangled Lights and Mini Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY FIVE ; DECEMBER 18TH - DECORATION  
> What happens when Carlos wants to be 100% independent, but can’t do everything by himself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: none, really Carlos has an internal mini fight with himself.

Jay walked into the dorm room with a big box labelled “HOLIDAY DECORATIONS” on the side. When Carlos didn’t look up from his desk, Jay cleared his throat loudly, startling him. He turned around to give Jay a death glare, eyes falling on the box in his boyfriend’s arms.  
“Jay, what the hell is this?” Carlos questioned. He stood up from his desk and walked over to Jay, searching for the opening on box to look at the contents. Jay set the box down on the ground and opened it for the curious boy.  
“It’s holiday stuff! Ben said that kids that don’t go home for the holidays can decorate their rooms to make it feel more homey,” Jay smiled as he watched Carlos carefully dig through the box, being careful to not break anything.  
“It seems kinda…” Carlos paused before biting his bottom lip, not wanting to make Jay feel bad. “Weird.” Carlos mentally kicked himself for calling it weird but it was too late to take it back. He watched Jay think through Carlos’s words, his eyes lowered.  
“I mean, yeah, a little bit. I think we’re the only ones that don’t go back home for the holidays, so this is probably the first time they’ve done this,” Jay shrugged his shoulders, pulling out string lights from the box. “We do have lights though. We can hang them up over our beds, and we have whatever this is…”  
“It’s called a Menorah, Jay, it’s used by Jewish people during Hanukkah, just like the tree is used by Christians for Christmas,” Carlos explained, watching Jay twirl the Menorah around in his hands. He rolled his eyes and took it out of Jay’s hands, saving him from breaking it.  
“How do we know what to celebrate?” Jay asked, setting about to emptying the box of decorations onto the floor around them. Carlos looked at them and decided to start putting stuff up around their room.  
“We don’t, we can just celebrate whatever we want,” Carlos shrugged, setting the Menorah on his dresser. “Lift me up on your shoulders, I wanna put the lights up!”  
Jay laughed and got down low enough for Carlos to get on his shoulders. When Jay stood up, Carlos wobbled a little bit and let out a shriek, trying to grab onto something to steady himself. Jay held onto Carlos’s thin legs tightly, not letting him go anywhere.  
“I’ve got you, just don’t grab my hair… If you pull it out, I’ll kill you,” Jay joked. Carlos rolled his eyes, holding a roll of tape in one hand and the lights in the other. Jay took a couple steps towards their beds, moving slowly to ensure Carlos’s safety.  
“We can replace the tape with little hooks to hold the lights in place, but for now, tape,” Carlos said, setting the roll of tape down on Jay’s head so he could untangle the lights. Jay tried to stay as still as possible, not knowing what Carlos was doing.  
“Do you need help with anything, Carlos?” Jay asked, not moving his head. Carlos moved the lights down in front of Jay’s face. He had somehow managed to tangle them even more than they already were. Jay laughed and moved Carlos around to his front and set him down.  
“Babe, how’d you manage this?” Jay took the lights from Carlos and started to untangle them, still laughing. Carlos sat down on the bed, pouting.  
“I don’t know! At least give me some credit, I tried!” Carlos threw himself down on the bed, covering his face with the pillow. Jay quickly finished untangling the lights, setting them down on one of the desks before moving back to Carlos and uncovering his face, giving him a quick kiss.  
“Do you still want to hang the lights up?” Jay asked with a sly grin. Carlos pulled the pillow back down over his face and mumbled something. “C. I can’t understand you, uncover your face first.” Carlos uncovered his face and repeated himself.  
“No. I don’t wanna put them up. I’m freakin’ embarrassed! I’m taking a nap now,” Carlos covered his face back up, leaving Jay to put them up by himself.  
Carlos hated not being able to do things on his own the first time around. He wanted to be independent, but didn’t understand that a sixteen year old boy didn’t need to be as independent as he already was. Carlos thought that he should be able to fully function on his own, one hundred percent of the time.  
“Baby, I’ll give you your space, but I just want you to know that I love you and you have no reason to be embarrassed about this. You know that I love you and I will always be here for you. You don’t have to be able to do everything, you are still learning. And, by the way, you’re way smarter than me. You can do so much more than I can. I’m so proud of you and I love you so much,” Jay lifted the pillow and kissed Carlos on the forehead before setting the pillow back down on Carlos’s face.  
Carlos looked like he was already asleep when Jay lifted the pillow so Jay moved around the room quietly, texting Evie and Mal about the decorations. They both came over quickly, helping Jay decorate their room while Carlos hid under his pillow and a blanket that Evie brought with her. They watched the Carlos-shaped lump move underneath the pillow to match with his breathing.  
“Thanks for the help, girls. I feel bad about Carlos, I didn’t mean to make him feel inadequate about the lights, I didn’t think about it…” Jay ran a hand through his hair, sitting down in Carlos’s desk chair. “I just, I wanted to help ‘cause I heard him muttering, and I didn’t think it would be anything big, but it’s Carlos, he loves being able to do things by himself, and I love being able to give that to him, but I just didn’t think. What if he’s mad at me for being able to untangle the lights? Shit…”  
“Jay, quit over-thinking this, seriously. There’s no way Carlos would be mad at you, he could never be mad at you. If anything, he’s mad at himself,” Evie replied, sitting down at Jay’s desk. Mal sat on Jay’s bed, watching Jay start to freak out.  
“Let’s just wake Carlos up and ask him if he’s mad at you,” Mal offered, shrugging her shoulders. Jay glared at her and shook his head.  
“Do not wake him up, I’ll kill you where you stand. He doesn’t like being woken up from naps,” Jay told her, getting up and standing between her and Carlos.  
As if on cue, Carlos started to wake up, stretching out from underneath the blanket. He took the pillow off of his face and set it next to his head. The blanket stayed on as he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning.  
“Happy holidays, C,” Mal smiled from the other side of Jay. Carlos looked at her, then looked around the room, impressed with the decorations on the walls and on top of the desks and dressers.  
“This is seriously amazing, guys, you did all this while I was asleep? How long was I asleep?” Carlos questioned.  
“Doesn’t matter, all that matters is that our room is decorated and we’re ready to spend the holidays in Auradon for the first time!” Jay responded, bending over and giving Carlos a kiss.


	6. Yours and Ours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY SIX ; DECEMBER 19TH - UGLY SWEATER  
> Losing a bet has perks, but it also has downfalls - like Chad Charming...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: horny teenagers & bullying

“I look stupid, Jay,” Carlos whimpered, turning around in front of the mirror. Jay had a grin on his face, despite the pout on his boyfriend’s face.  
“You lost the bet, fair and square,” Jay laughed, watching Carlos stomp around their room, gathering his things before leaving. Carlos didn’t even want to make a bet in the first place, but Jay was adamant about it, so Carlos agreed.  
“The girls are going to make fun of me. I look so dumb,” Carlos grabbed his last textbook and opened their dorm room door and left, leaving Jay standing in their room, grin still on his face.  
When he walked out of their room, he was met with Evie and Mal both holding back laughter and Carlos turned away from them, pretending like he hadn’t seen them at all. Dude was sitting at Carlos’ feet staring up at his owner, tail wagging. Carlos stared down at him, murmuring under his breath.  
“Pup, can you turn around for me, please?” Jay asked, his face still bearing the same grin. Carlos shook his head, arms crossed over his chest.  
Jay walked up behind Carlos, kissing his neck as a way to try and get Carlos to stop pouting. Carlos moved his head to expose his neck more, letting Jay start to suck a hickey on the freckled skin. He didn’t stop when Mal cleared her throat and barely let Evie get ahold of Carlos before pulling him away and against a wall.  
“J-Jay stop! I h-have to go to cla- oh, fuck,” Carlos gasped, feeling Jay bite down on his neck. His hands flew to Jay’s hair, tangling his fingers in his hair. “Let m-me, let me go to cla-class and w-we can, shit, we can finish this l-later.”  
Jay let go of Carlos, allowing Carlos to step away from the wall. Carlos glared at him, straightening himself out before heading with Evie to their first class. Jay stood in the same place, grinning from ear to ear, thinking of everything he could do to Carlos after classes were over.  
“Alright, don’t be gross, we have to go to class,” Mal pretended to gag at the mere thought of Jay and Carlos having sex. Jay laughed at her and slung an arm around her shoulders, walking with her to their first class.  
-  
“Nice sweater, Carlos, did your mommy make it for you?” Chad’s voice rang through the locker room and his voice nearly made Carlos hit his head on the door to his locker. “Oh, I forgot, Carlos… Your mommy is locked away on that island.”  
Carlos whipped around and threw a textbook in Chad’s direction, screaming profanities at him. Chad easily dodged it, laughing at Carlos, who was crying hysterically, waiting for the next taunt, which came soon enough.  
“Oh, right, your mommy favoured Dalmations, didn’t she? Not little mutts like you,” Chad laughed again, only to be stopped by a fist to the mouth.  
“At least I have decency!” Carlos swung his other fist into Chad’s nose, hearing a crack as blood began to drip down onto his shirt.  
“Hey, C, what the hell is going on?” Jay ran into the locker room and grabbed Carlos, forcing him back. He sent a glare over his shoulder towards Chad before turning back to Carlos.  
Carlos had turned away from everyone, sitting on the floor, his body shaking. Jay came and knelt down next to Carlos, rubbing his back slowly, attempting to help Carlos calm down a bit before asking any questions.  
“I-I’m sorry,” Carlos hid his face in Jay’s chest, ashamed by his actions. He hated lashing out with violence, he rarely did.  
“What happened?” Jay held Carlos closely, kissing the top of his head.  
“Chad. Chad was be-being mean, he brought up my mother, Jay. H-He asked if Cruella made this sweater,” Carlos cried. He fisted his hands in Jay’s shirt, trying to take deep breaths.  
“I’ll talk to him. The sweater was just supposed to be something funny. Mal made the dog look like Dude and Evie put decorations on the sweater. It’s supposed to be ugly, that’s the whole point. You look absolutely adorable in it, though. Chad had no right to bring up Cruella. You are so much stronger than he is,” Jay continued to rub Carlos’ back, listening to him take shaky breaths against his chest. He let Carlos cry against him, not speaking, just holding him tightly.  
-  
Jay had texted Mal and Evie about what had happened, letting them know that Carlos would need support, and he would need someone to hold him back from killing Chad. Evie had a plan - she always did. After their gym class, Carlos and Jay met up with Mal and Evie for lunch, and Carlos noticed that the girls were wearing matching sweaters. The sweaters matched Carlos’s and the simple gesture almost had him in tears again.  
Evie tossed Jay his own sweater with a smile, Jay dropped his backpack and slipped the sweater on over his head.  
“You guys are wearing matching sweaters,” Carlos smiled through the tears dripping down his face. He sniffed and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Jay, Evie, and Mal all enveloped him in a hug, holding him tightly.  
“C. You know Chad doesn’t deserve a second of your time, you are so much better than he is,” Mal said, ruffling his hair. He leaned into her and mumbled a ‘thank you.’  
“Your ugly sweater is now our ugly sweaters,” Jay grinned at his boyfriend, kissing him quickly.


	7. Gift Giving for Gays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY SEVEN ; DECEMBER 20TH - HOLIDAYS IN HOGWARTS  
> Carlos, Evie, Jay, and Mal all plan to give each other gifts for the holidays.  
> It also happens to fall around finals, which Carlos just wants to study for.  
> Will his partners be able to pull him away from his studies for some fun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (literally hate that summary and the title, but oh well)
> 
> No TWs, just gay :)

Even though the four friends were all in different houses, it didn’t stop them from sneaking out at night and spending the night in a different house. Carlos would nearly always end up in the Slytherin common room and Jay would spend his free time in the Ravenclaw tower with Evie.  
During the winter holidays the dungeons would get cold, so Carlos and Mal would end up in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers and spend the night. Carlos would take snacks up from the kitchens and bring them to Jay when they would study together. He gave Mal some snacks to take to Evie, which she always appreciated.  
The holidays always stressed Evie and Carlos out because it meant finals. They buried themselves in the library, up to their noses in notes and textbooks, hardly coming out for meals. Mal and Jay, on the other hand, were perfectly content on cramming the day of, hoping for the best. When all four of them became friends, Jay and Mal would join Evie and Carlos in the library and would make a small attempt to not bother the two bookworms - but somehow they always ended up bothering them.  
This year was going to be different though. Mal, Jay, and Evie all had their O.W.L.s and Carlos was taking enough classes to warrant a time turner, but he swore it still wasn’t enough. All four of them were in the library, actually taking time to study for their exams.  
Jay decided that he was going to get everyone presents for the holidays, he would make enough money to buy the other three presents and spoil them. He would buy them things they could all use, art supplies, sewing supplies, and even new robotics gadgets.  
Evie had the same idea, but with clothes. She had found a charm that she could use to aid her with her designs so she could make double - if not triple - the amount of clothes that she could before. It made her happy, seeing how much her partners loved the clothes.  
Mal decided that, for the holidays, she would make art for everyone. She had started portraits of Evie and Jay for her art course, but she decided that she liked the idea of drawing all three of them and personalising it for them. She could enchant the portraits to light up or move like the paintings in the castle.  
Carlos knew he had talent, but he excelled at one thing, building. He could build just about anything if given the tools to do so. He wanted to build something that Mal could use for her art, that Evie could use for her designs, and something that Jay could use for his Quidditch training. He had started thinking about what he could build months before and had their gifts built, wrapped, and hidden two months before the holidays started.  
-  
“C. None of us have seen you get presents or say anything, are you not doing anything for your friends?” Doug, a fellow Hufflepuff, asked one day. They were sitting in the common room, studying for their exams.  
“First of all, I’m dating them, so they aren’t just ‘friends’ to me. And, second of all, I’ve gotten all my holiday stuff done, so don’t worry about me,” Carlos rolled his eyes, continuing to take notes for his exams. Carlos didn’t like small talk, so being in a house with people that wanted to constantly make small talk was annoying to him. He didn’t find it necessary, it was just to fill the silence that they were uncomfortable with. Doug didn’t ask anymore questions after that, he just went back to his own reading, leaving Carlos to take his notes in silence.  
“CARLOS!” Mal’s voice flooded into silent common room, causing Carlos to jump fully out of his seat and fall to the ground. He didn’t try to get up when he heard Mal laughing loudly and then getting scolded by Evie for scaring him.  
“C, tomorrow is the last day of exams, come outside and have a snowball fight with us! You have all night to study, we have two hours before curfew, come on,” Jay pulled Carlos off the floor and onto his feet, slinging an arm around his shoulders, watching Carlos stumble forward.  
“Fine, just for a bit though, my hardest exams are tomorrow and I really want to study a bit more,” Carlos grumbled, heading up the stairs to his dorm room to get warmer clothes, leaving the other three standing in the common room with Doug as the only other person left.  
“How’d you guys even get in here?” Doug asked, raising an eyebrow at the three teenagers that obviously didn’t belong in the Hufflepuff house.  
“Easy, Carlos tells us the password and we use it to get in. If you rat him out or tell anyone that people outside of this house know the password, we’ll personally make sure you can’t get into your own house, got it?” Mal threatened, leaving Doug quivering in his seat. He nodded quickly before turning away and going back to his own homework.  
Carlos came bounding down the stairs, decked out in his sweater, scarf, and gloves all bearing the Hufflepuff colours. His pants only ran a little ways past his knees, but the other three knew that he didn’t care for pants. They all followed as he opened the door and disappeared around the corner.  
Once they caught up to Carlos outside, they saw that he had charmed three snowballs to float in the air around him. He had a grin on his face that said “bring it” and a stance that said “you don’t stand a chance.” The other three teenagers quickly drew their wands, trying to catch up to Carlos who sent the three snowballs flying into three respective chests, getting three yelps of surprise in return.  
Carlos laughed and charmed more snow to form into perfect spheres and fly towards his opponents, narrowly missing Evie, but hitting Mal and Jay, making them swear and charge towards the skinny teen. He screeched and tried to run, only to be tackled into the snow by the others. Evie stood back and watched, laughing as she saw Carlos wave his wand and send snow flying towards Mal and Jay quickly.  
By the time the clock chimed and signalled that it was curfew, the four teens were shivering and soaking wet from laying in the snow. They quickly made their way inside, trying to magically dry their clothes as they walked. They headed in different directions, Jay and Evie to the towers, Mal and Carlos to the dungeons, promising to meet up before breakfast in the morning.  
-  
Three days passed and most of Hogwarts had gone home for the holidays, which meant that Carlos, Mal, Jay, and Evie were some of the only students left in the entire castle. That meant sleepovers in the other houses, staying up late, stealing snacks from the kitchens, and playing out in the snow.  
Carlos had enchanted the Christmas trees in the Great Hall to shake fake snow on the professors when they walked past. It made everyone laugh, and even the Headmaster cracked a grin in Carlos’ direction, making Carlos freeze and duck his head down to avoid his gaze.  
-  
“So, Happy Christmas guys, I got you all something,” Jay said. He shuffled around the room and grabbed three hastily wrapped presents from under his bed. He handed them to their respective new owners before sitting back down. Evie was the first one to open her gift, gasping and clapping her hands together happily.  
“New sewing supplies, thank you so much Jay! I was running out of threads and my needles are no longer pointy enough,” Evie stood up from her spot on the floor and hugged Jay, kissing his cheek quickly. Jay blushed at the gesture and pretended that he wasn’t proud of himself.  
“Dude, art supplies are expensive as hell, you didn’t have to do this!” Mal punched his leg - the closest body part to her. Jay ruffled her hair, sticking his tongue out behind her back. He watched closely as she examined the new paints he got her.  
Carlos had silently opened his gift, staring down at the brand new robotics kit Jay picked out for him. Jay nudged him to get his attention and as soon as he had Carlos’ full attention, he was tackled in a hug, mostly covered with the smaller teens body.  
“I absolutely love it, thank you so much!” Carlos didn’t make a move to get off of him, and Jay didn’t make a move to get Carlos off. Evie and Mal both joined the boys on the bed, joining in on their hug.  
“Okay, let’s all meet in the Slytherin common room in ten minutes, I know Evie’s got presents, and I’m sure Carlos has presents, and I’ve got presents too, so we’ll all reconvene there to exchange the rest of our gifts, okay?” Mal was the first to slip off the bed and straighten herself out. The others quickly followed suit, suddenly excited again.  
They all moved faster than they had all morning, Carlos nearly falling down a flight of stairs because he was moving so fast. Mal nearly followed suit because she was laughing.  
-  
When they all got down to the Slytherin common room, Mal had placed everyone’s gifts in their own spot, Carlos was the first to get to the common room, placing gifts in their spots and sitting down in front of his gift. Evie and Jay both walked in at the same time, seeing Mal and Carlos sitting down next to each other, laughing loudly. Jay interrupted by tossing a pillow at Carlos and sitting down in front of his presents. Evie gave Mal and Carlos both a kiss on their foreheads before sitting down in the chair with her presents in front of her.  
“Should we go ahead and just open them all now?” Jay asked, slowly starting to open his gifts without waiting for an answer. Evie rolled her eyes, but followed his lead and started opening her own gifts.  
“I guess, since you guys don’t want to wait,” Mal grinned, tearing into her own gifts without another second. Carlos carefully started opening his presents, taking the time to carefully examine each gift and set it aside before gently starting on the next.  
“Guys, these are amazing, thank you!” Mal stood up and hugged everyone, including Jay since she had just punched him earlier. Carlos smiled, glad that she was able to see the design and understand what he had written. His handwriting wasn’t the best and he was nervous that he wasn’t clear enough.  
“C, did you seriously build this?” Jay asked, turning the machine over in his hands, choosing not to read the piece of paper that said what the machine was and what it did. “What is it, exactly?”  
“Well, Jay, if you would read before you ask, it’s something that will fly in the air with you while you practice Quidditch and act as a keeper. It has a barrier that will protect the goals and itself from the quaffle and the bludgers,” Carlos explained, showing Jay how to work it, Jay just sat in awe as Carlos talked. Carlos turned to Jay, blushing a deep shade of red, noticing Jay’s face.  
“You’re so fucking smart,” Mal playfully pushed Carlos, proud of her boyfriend for everything he could do and has done.


	8. Parties Suck, Especially When You Hate Parties...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY EIGHT ; DECEMBER 21ST - HOLIDAY PARTY   
> It's the VK's first holiday in Auradon and they get invited to the castle for their annual holiday party, some are more excited than others, but what happens at the party stays at the party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no trigger warnings.  
> this piece features Carlos being a huge nerd. (think descendants 1)

**DECEMBER 13TH: 3:30PM - MONDAY**  
“Okay, no offense, but I would literally rather play Tourney than go to a party,” Carlos grumbled from his desk chair. Evie had wandered into the boy’s room and asked for them both to come to her room for a fitting for the annual holiday party hosted at Beast and Belle’s castle after school let out for the holidays. Jay immediately listened, bounding out of the room, not wanting to witness the fight that was sure to come when Carlos refused to leave and Evie inevitably dragged him away from his work.  
“Carlos, you don’t have a choice, the king is requesting our presence himself, so we have to go,” Evie rolled her eyes and pulled Carlos’ chair back from his desk, forcing him to leave his notes and books. He protested loudly, trying to fight back against Evie’s death grip on his arm.  
“Eves, I have to finish my notes, it’s important!” Carlos dug his heels into the carpet, trying to grasp at the wall, desperate for purchase. Evie didn’t listen as she opened her door and pushed Carlos inside. He was greeted by Mal laying on her stomach on her bed and Jay lounging on Evie’s bed, his shoes on the ground next to the bed so Evie wouldn’t yell at him again.  
“Hey C! How’d Evie manage to drag you away from your desk? You wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence,” Jay laughed, tossing a pillow towards Carlos. Carlos flinched as it hit his chest, flipping Jay off as he trudged over to Evie’s side of the room, allowing her to start taking his measurements.  
Evie quickly wrote down numbers on her paper, telling Carlos what they were - not that he was listening. He longingly looked at the door, trying to plan the perfect getaway. Evie noticed and turned him around, hearing a small whine of protest from the boy. She laughed quietly, finishing up taking his measurements and comparing it with the measurements from his last fitting.  
“Okay, Carlos, the only thing that has changed is the muscle, it’s slightly bigger, so I’m going to fix the shirt and jacket, but I want you to try on the pants and shoes just to make sure they fit right. I just tweaked the shoes, they’re slightly thinner to fit your tiny feet,” Evie handed over the pants and shoes and ushered Carlos to the bathroom to change.  
Jay had wolf whistled at Evie’s mention of Carlos’s muscles, getting an eye roll in return. Carlos, through his own protests, took the pants and shoes and tried them on, admiring himself in the mirrors, noticing how nice his legs looked in the pants. He also noticed the fact that the pants only went slightly past his knees instead of all the way down to his ankles. He nodded, making sure to yell to Evie that he liked that touch.  
He tried on the shoes, thanking Evie for tweaking them, making sure they were able to fit on his slim feet. They looked halfway decent on him, but without a full outfit, Carlos had no way of knowing whether or not they would match completely. He smiled to himself, taking them off, along with the pants, before putting his shorts back on and walking back out into the bedroom, noticing that Evie was staring him down.  
“I wanted to see it!” Evie cried, heartbroken over the fact that Carlos hadn’t shown her how he looked. Carlos shook his head before walking out of her room and back to his own room to finish taking his notes.  
“E, do you want to work on my outfit? I promise I’ll be easier than C, he’s just a little grumpy because of finals and shit,” Jay sat up in bed, smiling at Evie before hopping over to her, standing next to her while she made quick notes about Carlos’s outfit.  
“Fine, I guess you’ll do,” Evie joked, grabbing her tape measurer and quickly getting started on taking Jay’s measurements. Mal kept to herself, working on her own projects, periodically looking up at Evie and Jay. 

**DECEMBER 24TH: 1:00PM - FRIDAY**  
“Carlos, what could you possibly be doing right now? You had your last final four hours ago and you have no other classes to be studying for. What the hell are you doing?” Jay grumbled from his bed, flinging his blanket over his head.  
Carlos had been up for seven hours, had studied until his last final exam, then came back to their room and started tinkering with a machine that Jay didn’t understand. Jay had slept through most of it, but in the past ten minutes, the machine had started beeping, which woke Jay up, which led him to bitch at Carlos for five minutes about how loud the beeping was.  
“I’m building something, Jay. Unlike you, I like to accomplish things by the time it’s eleven in the morning,” Carlos muttered under his breath, just barely loud enough for Jay to hear over the beeping. “Also, the beeping should stop momentarily. I just need to connect the final three wires and make sure the dial is set, and the switch is turned the correct way.”  
“So, what is it?” Jay asked, sitting up in his bed and moving as close to Carlos’s desk as he could. Carlos rolled his eyes and pointed to one of the many blueprints he had hanging up above his desk.  
The blueprint read “MOTION SENSING ALARM CLOCK” and Jay was left with more questions than when he started. So, Carlos explained while he worked. He explained that he programmed the alarm clock to only stop beeping when you perform a specific task from the task list. The clock itself has three cameras in it, allowing it to see in every angle.  
“So, a lot of the ‘tasks’ are exercise related, they’re meant to get you up and moving when you wake up. So, for instance, it could beep and tell me to do eleven hurdle jumps and it would only stop when it saw me do eleven hurdle jumps,” Carlos pointed out the tiny chip on the board that held all the tasks.  
Jay picked up the blueprints and all of Carlos’s notes and started reading over them. He didn’t understand half of what his boyfriend had written, but he absolutely pretended like he did, making Carlos happy.  
“Dude, that’s actually really cool, it would really help me, too, considering I snooze the alarm like five times before you get annoyed and try to get me out,” Jay laughed and set the papers down in front of Carlos. In turn, Carlos rolled his eyes and carefully connected the final wires, stopping the steady beeping. He smiled and looked over his shoulder at Jay.  
“It will say the tasks out loud, there is no off button, it is programmed to respond to specific movements, not just flailing, Jay,” Carlos glared at Jay, obviously proud of himself. “I made it for you!” Carlos put the back of alarm clock back on and handed it to Jay. Jay took it from Carlos and moved it around in his hands, his mouth open in awe.  
“Dude, this is fucking amazing, I can’t believe you built this completely by yourself!” Jay wrapped his arms around Carlos, kissing his cheek.  
They were quickly interrupted by a sharp knock on their door, followed by the person unlocking it and opening it without waiting for an answer. Evie. Jay barely bothered to cover himself up, still standing behind Carlos in just his boxers. Evie barely looked at them before she hung up their party outfits up in their closets.  
“I trust that you two can dress yourselves? Be ready by five, Mal and I will be here shortly before then to help with final touches,” Evie looked at Carlos, who sat in his chair, quickly writing on a piece of scrap paper, nodding his head as Evie spoke. “Bye, boys, clean up in here and shower.”

**DECEMBER 24TH: 4:45PM - FRIDAY**  
“Jay, I don’t even want to go to this stupid party and I’m already ready, let’s get a move on,” Carlos whined, struggling to pull Jay out of his chair so he could get ready.  
Jay had taken a shower about an hour ago, taking no time in going back to playing video games on the t.v. while Carlos worked on another project. Now, with fifteen minutes before Mal and Evie were supposed to come get them for the party. Carlos was completely ready, Jay was exactly the opposite - dressed only boxers and socks.  
Jay refused to move until the two boys heard Evie’s knocks on the door to their room. They shared a look of panic before Jay called out,  
“Don’t come in, Carlos has his dick out!”  
It earned him a punch in the arm and a groan from Carlos, who promptly handed him his suit and pushed him into their bathroom so he could get ready. Carlos opened the door as soon as the bathroom door closed and locked, getting a curious look from Mal.  
“Thought you had your dick out, C,” she snickered, getting her own glare from Carlos. “Hey, didn’t peg you as the type to walk around with your dick out, but I’m proud of you for branching out now th-”  
Mal was cut off by Evie elbowing her in the ribs, trying to discreetly gesture to her that Carlos was ready to kill her. Luckily, Jay stepped out in his pants and shirt, neither buttoned, but a start. Carlos busied himself with the buttons, straightening out his shirt before telling him to tuck the shirt in. Evie handed him his socks and shoes, gently - but not so gently - reminding him that they needed to leave very soon.  
“Hey, E, can you do the little half-bun for my hair?” Jay asked, mostly to the floor due to being bent over to tie his shoes. Evie still gave him a response, heading into the bathroom and grabbing a hair tie and Jay’s brush. 

**DECEMBER 24TH: 5:05PM - FRIDAY**  
“Wow, this is such a big castle,” Mal stared at the outside of the King and Queen’s castle, slack-jawed and physically unable to move. Her feet felt like they were glued to the floor. She was nervous (for maybe the third time in her life), but she couldn’t let the other three know that.  
“Guys, I really don’t want to meet the king and queen, I feel like I might pass out,” Evie looked a little paler than she should, Mal couldn’t focus on that, she was more focused on Carlos’s determined face.  
“No. You guys begged me to agree to this, I got dressed up and left my room for this, we’re going to this damn party, even if it kills us. Got it?” Carlos stood in front of the other three teenagers, standing tall, staring from one to the next, to the next, and back. They all nodded in response, surprised at Carlos’s sudden power trip.  
He practically marched them inside, making first contact with the prince. He stopped dead in his tracks, suddenly overwhelmed with social anxiety, desperately looking back at Jay to save him.  
“Hey, Ben, we missed you at Tourney yesterday,” Jay slid into the one-sided conversation, throwing an arm around Carlos’s shoulders casually. Carlos was rigid, petrified of having to talk to people he didn’t know or like. Mal was nearly the same way. The two shared a knowing look, willing the night to go smoothly and hoping that everyone would just ignore them.  
“Yeah, I’m supposed to be doing some more kingly things so I’m used to it by the time I become king,” Ben forced a laugh, obviously unhappy at the thought of not having enough time to do the things he loved. Carlos was still standing under Jay’s arm, slowly trying to relax his body, only for it to tense back up at the sight of a small creature.  
“We need to go now,” Carlos tried to whisper to Jay, but Ben overheard - probably due to Carlos’s inability to whisper - and asked what was wrong and if there was anything he could do to help.  
“Uh, C, your call. What’s going on? What can we do?” Jay looked down at his boyfriend with a worried look on his face. He looked around to see if there were any visible threats to them.  
“They have a dog, Jay, I’m leaving. I didn’t sign up to be eaten tonight,” Carlos glared at the mutt that one of Ben’s friends had brought in on a leash. It was around thirty feet away from them, but Carlos still saw it as an immediate threat to his life.  
“Oh, you haven’t met Dude? He’s technically the campus mutt, but we all take care of him,” Ben motioned for his friend to come over with Dude. “He’s really sweet and he hangs out around campus and someone will keep him in their room overnight.”  
“Oh goodie, I’ll get to see him more. There’s a reason to party,” Carlos rolled his eyes, the sarcasm not necessarily laced in his tone, but in fact, quite the opposite.  
“Do you not like dogs, Carlos?” Ben asked, bending down and picking Dude up, scratching behind his ears. He looked up in time to see Carlos shaking his head quickly.  
“Wait, isn’t your mother Cruella de Vil, though?” Ben’s friend asked. “I thought you’d love dogs so much that you’d want to kill puppies…” Carlos glared at the friend, his hands balled into fists.  
“No, I would literally rather be in any other situation right now than be held here with this dog. Oh, Hades, Jay!” Carlos yelped and jumped behind his boyfriend as the dog let out a happy bark and wagged his tail at the boy.  
“Carlos, you’re fine. He’s harmless. Dude has never bitten anyone and he loves meeting new people,” Ben took a cautious step towards Carlos and Jay, watching for any signs of panic in either boy. Jay nodded once, which told Ben that he could take another step, and then another one.  
Soon, Ben was standing directly in front of where Carlos had his face hidden in Jay’s shoulder, refusing to look up at the dog. He did not want to be this dog’s first victim; maybe they brought him over from the Isle so he could get eaten by the first dog he meets. Oh, how cruel would that be? 

**DECEMBER 24TH: 7:40PM - FRIDAY**  
“C’mon, I wanna go home. I’m tired,” Carlos groaned and held onto Jay’s hand, trying to keep him from heading back over to the food table and grabbing another helping of hor d'oeuvres. Jay waved him off, signalling to his boyfriend that he was going whether Carlos wanted him to or not.  
Carlos, much to his displeasure, has spent over two hours dodging the small mutt that seemingly wants to be best friends with the freckled teen. Maybe the dog knows the dogs that his mother tried to steal. Maybe the dog wants revenge. Maybe the dog is trained to keep a very close eye on Carlos in Auradon.  
“Carlos, just sit down on the ground with him. If you tell him to sit and wait, he’ll stay where he is and you can get closer to him on your own. He has never hurt anyone, even as a puppy, Roger and Anita said that he was the only puppy that never once nipped or even play-bit,” Ben knelt down a few feet away from Carlos, scratching behind Dude’s ears again. Carlos noted that the mutt seemed to like the feeling. He’d keep that in mind: “MUTT’S OFF BUTTON: EAR SCRATCHES!”  
Even through seven layers of healthy (and unhealthy) fear, Carlos still knelt down, telling Dude to sit and stay, just like Ben told him. Dude did as he was told, evening giving Carlos a small whine in response. Carlos took his time in moving closer to the dog, getting about two feet away before ultimately deciding that was close enough before quickly standing and gathering his friends.  
Jay was shoving handfuls of food into his mouth and onto a plate when he was stolen from where he was parked. Mal and Evie had stuck together, chatting with different members of the house staff as well as royals from different countries. They were enjoying the party almost as much as Jay. Carlos, on the other hand, served his time with the public. He decided that he would not be going to any more parties, and certainly not to any place with a dog. He had enough of both to last a lifetime. 


	9. Walkin' In a Winter Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY NINE ; DECEMBER 22ND - CAROLING  
> Falling in love is scary, it happens suddenly, and sometimes the best course of action is to run.  
> Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ft. autistic!carlos / siblings!jay and evie / bffs!mal and carlos / slight genius!carlos  
> self indulgent 2k ficlet of carlos and jay meeting for the first time

Carlos was in his sophomore year at university, drowning in homework and practically living at the coffee shop where his friend worked. She allowed him to sit in the corner chair and work for hours on end, giving him coffee to keep him awake. He definitely lived off of coffee and pastries for the last two and a half weeks of school leading up to exams.  
“C. We’re hosting a singing group this friday and I wanted to know if you’d come. I know you usually head out early on friday’s, but I want you to stick around! You can meet my girlfriend afterward, too!” Mal had a huge smile on her face and big puppy-dog eyes, begging him to come with.  
Carlos looked up, bags under his eyes, his eyes bloodshot. He tilted his head at his friend and took a sip of his coffee with trembling hands. He couldn’t fathom how loud it would be and how many people were going to be there. He debated declining the offer, seeing as he didn’t do crowds or loud noises, but Mal seemed to want him there, so he accepted, also wanting to meet her girlfriend that she had been going on and on about for the past three months.  
“Fine, I’ll go, but if there’s a big crowd, I’m leaving and not telling anyone,” Carlos threatened. Mal nodded quickly and even held out her arms to see if Carlos wanted a hug. He groaned and rolled his eyes, standing up and setting his coffee down along with his notebooks and textbooks. He shuffled over to Mal and quietly wrapped his arms around her waist, holding on loosely.  
“Yay! I’m so excited! You’re going to love Evie! She’s in school for fashion design and Chemistry! You guys will get along so well,” Mal kept a hold of Carlos as she spoke, not wanting to let him go, but Carlos was done with the physical affection.  
He wiggled away from Mal and sank back into his chair, pretending like he never even got up. He quickly got back into his work, ignoring the existence of everyone in the coffee shop and focusing solely on his note taking. Mal continued to bring him coffee with extra shots of espresso, exactly how he liked it.  
-  
“C! You came, I’m so happy you’re here!” Mal squealed and ran over to Carlos, holding out her arms, which Carlos quickly denied. He settled for a fist bump, and even allowed Mal to ruffle his curls.  
He quietly walked over to his usual chair in the corner of the coffee shop. They had moved tables around to form a makeshift stage, which meant there were more chairs around his usual area, which added to Carlos’ anxiety. He put on his headphones and proceeded to play games on his phone until Mal tapped his shoulder to get his attention.  
“Hey, we’re gonna start in a minute, they’re getting ready to come out,” Mal gestured to an area blocked off, acting as a warmup area for the group about to perform, but Carlos knew it was just hiding the break room and storage area. He nodded at Mal, letting her know that he heard her.  
He kept his headphones on over his ears, but stopped playing his music so he could hear what people were saying, but it was quiet enough for him to not get overwhelmed with all the different noises.  
-  
“Okay, we’re going to have a fifteen minute break, so you guys can mingle with the singers and talk amongst one another!” Mal announced, getting small cheers from a couple people. Carlos sunk into his chair, wishing he could disappear right about now. He did not want to listen to people talking loudly over one another.  
“C, come back here,” Mal ran over to Carlos and motioned for him to follow her. She had a girl with striking blue eyeshadow trailing behind her, the girl gave Carlos a wide smile, showing off pearly white teeth. Carlos managed a small half smile in return, his hands fidgeting with the sleeves on his shirt.  
He followed both girls out of the coffee shop and back in through the back entrance that they most definitely were not allowed to use. Once they made it safely back inside, Carlos came face to face - well, more like face to chest - with two taller men, talking and laughing with one another.  
“Hey, I’m Harry and this is Jay, he’s my roommate and also Evie’s brother. I’m majoring in Marine Biology and Jay is majoring in Criminology! So, I know Jay, Jay and Evie are related, Evie’s dating Mal, and you’re Mal’s friend, so in a way, we’re all connected!” the guy, Harry, spoke with a heavy Scottish accent that threw Carlos off. He stared at the new people, blinking rapidly, trying to connect the dots and take in the new information.  
“So, M-Mal,” Carlos turned to his friend, still in shock from the sudden burst of information. “I’m - I’m assuming this is Ev-Evie, then?” Carlos gestured to the blue haired girl that had latched herself onto Mal’s arm. Both girls smiled and nodded to confirm. Carlos turned to Jay and Harry, assessing them quickly and quietly, looking them up and down.  
“Uh, Mal? What’s he doing?” Harry glanced past Carlos to stare directly at Mal, concerned for his own safety, unsure of what Carlos was doing. Mal mouthed to him to _close his mouth and just let it happen._  
“Okay, bye,” Carlos suddenly turned back to Mal and Evie, his face bright red. He moved quickly, trying to get past both girls. Mal stopped him and looked at him, making him squirm under the heavy eye contact that she was making.  
“What’s up, C? You look like a kicked puppy,” Mal attempted a smirk at her friend, watching as he tried to dislodge himself from her grip on his shoulder. She held tightly to his sweater, watching his eyes dart around the room so he wouldn’t have to look at her. His mouth moved, trying to formulate a lie to get out of the situation.  
“I - uh - my homework, I ne-” Carlos stuttered, spinning on his heel to look back at Jay, trying to look past him for an exit. He accidentally made eye contact with Jay, who winked at Carlos and he discreetly moved his hand to his crotch, motioning that Carlos should probably cover himself. Unfortunately, it was too late, Harry noticed before Carlos could get out.  
“Oh, Mal, your pup has got a hard on for your girlfriend’s brother,” he cackled, watching as Carlos booked it out of the back room, running as quickly as he could back to his apartment.  
“You are a fucking moron, Hook,” Mal rolled her eyes and started off towards Carlos, who was moving faster than he had ever gone before. “Go ahead and finish your set, I love you, Eves, keep Harry in line.” She kissed Evie on the cheek before glaring at Harry.  
Jay even hit Harry in the back of the head, telling him he was an idiot for pointing it out. Harry desperately tried to save himself, only digging himself deeper.  
“The kid obviously has problems, I mean, he was just staring at us and then didn’t say anything. He was just gonna leave after staring us down,” Harry defended. Evie glared at him and told Jay to announce that they were going to be postponing the second half of the holiday set due to an unforeseen injury.  
Jay quickly followed Evie’s instructions, leaving his sister and his roommate in the backroom, probably to duke it out. He knew that Harry had no proper fight training, and he knew that Evie quickly climbed the ranks in martial arts, becoming a champion black belt, the youngest the facility had ever seen. He knew Harry stood no chance against Evie.  
“You are seriously messed up, Harry. Carlos has autism, it was hard enough for him to come here and meet three new people and then you loaded him with a bunch of information all at once, and then you fucking pull that stunt. Do you ever think before you speak?” Evie was eerily calm while she talked, but her hands were curled into fists as she walked back and forth in front of Harry. Harry gulped, unable to defend himself anymore.  
It explained why Carlos had headphones on throughout the set, it explained the unease with a new situation, it explained pretty much everything Harry had seen Carlos do that evening, and the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. He hung his head in shame, running a hand through his hair.  
“I need to apologise to him,” Harry stated after a minute of dead silence. Evie shook her head, not allowing him past her. He blanched, confused at the gesture. “But, I was wrong, I was mean to him and I don’t want him to hate me.”  
“Oh, yes, you definitely were an ass and you definitely need to apologise, but not at this very moment. You need to give him space right now,” Evie explained, giving Harry another glare.  
-  
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be unable to finish our set tonight, but hopefully we can reschedule and complete it for you,” Jay apologised, trying his best to get in and get out as quickly as he could. He commanded the room, he had everyone’s attention, and the room listened.  
He quickly manoeuvred his way through the throng of people, pulling his phone out of his pocket as soon as he stepped outside.  
_Hello?_  
“Where are you? Is Carlos okay? Does he hate me?” Jay asked his questions in rapid succession, not giving the person on the other line a chance to respond.  
_Jay, you’re on speakerphone, he heard your questions, I’ll let him answer._  
There was a moment of silence and shuffling around before a quick scuffle ensued, then, Carlos.  
_H-Hi, Jay. Uh, I guess, t-to answer your quest - to answer your questions: we’re at my apartment, I’m getting there, and I do not hate you._ Carlos spoke, his voice gaining control as he continued. He did not stutter as much, Jay noticed, he was learning about Carlos even now.  
“Can I see you?” Jay spoke softly, giving Carlos a chance to think for a moment. “It’s okay if you don’t want to see me. I won’t be mad o-”  
_Yes. Yes, please. I’ll text you, I’ll text you the address!_ Carlos hung up the phone and Jay pulled his phone away from his ear in confusion, and no later than ten seconds passed and Jay received a message from Mal’s phone number, then another, then another.  
**MAL: 8071 Delfire St. Apt 13**  
**MAL: this is carlos, by the way**  
**MAL: oh, i guess it doesn’t matter**  
Jay smiled and plugged the address into his phone’s map. He wasted no time in following the route to Carlos’ apartment, getting there quickly. He hesitated at the door, not wanting to knock just yet. He didn’t want Carlos and Mal to know that he ran here, so he texted Evie and told her to come to the apartment quickly. He knew Evie had the keys to the car, so she’d be here even faster than he was.  
-  
When Evie arrived, Jay quickly walked her through his “master plan” and she loved the idea, she was practically bouncing where she stood, ready to start. Jay wasted no time in knocking on the door and counting down with Evie as they listened to the locks unlock, and then the door opening.  
“Three, two, one.”  
_Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?_  
_In the lane snow is glistening,_  
_A beautiful sight, oh, we're happy tonight,_  
_Walking in a winter wonderland._  
_Gone away is the bluebird,_  
_Here to stay is a new bird,_  
_He's singing a song as we go along,_  
_Walking in a winter wonderland_  
Carlos clapped quietly, having had enough of the singing without his headphones on. He moved to the side of the doorway, allowing Jay and Evie to enter his apartment. He apologised for the mess and offered them a drink. Evie took some water while Jay declined a drink. They sat on the couch with Mal while Carlos shuffled around his apartment. He quickly made his way to Evie and set the drink down in front of her.  
He walked around the apartment twice before sitting down across from Mal and her girlfriend and friend. The four sat in silence for a minute before Mal clapped her hands together and spoke up.  
“C, do you want to tell Eves and Jay what you’re in university for?” she asked, nodding in Carlos’ direction. He looked up at her, holding eye contact for a split second before messing with the sleeves on his sweater.  
“Uh, I - Sure,” he paused. “I’m double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Veterinary Sciences, and I’m minoring in Computer Programming and possibly Animal Sciences, still undecided.” Jay’s mouth dropped open, impressed with the younger boy’s work load. Carlos continued to look his lap, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone else in the room.  
“That’s awesome! You’re really smart, Carlos; Mal has told me all about your studies and the things you’ve built and made better, you’re amazing,” Evie gushed at the boy, careful to read his body language and stop when she saw him squirm under the praise.  
“You guys are really good singers and I think you’re really hot, Jay,” Carlos suddenly blurted out, putting his head in his hands then moving them to his ears, pulling on them to punish himself.  
“C? Carlos? I don’t think you need to do that,” Jay moved forward and gently touched Carlos’ wrists. “Carlos, I think you’re pretty handsome yourself, you don’t need to hurt yourself.” Carlos paused, he looked up at Jay and tried to smile. His hands fell to his sides, a few tears fell down his face. He let Jay wipe them away, quietly thanking him.


	10. What the Hell? How?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY TEN ; DECEMBER 23RD - GIFTS  
> Carlos gets his partners a little something along with their own little inventions.  
> Things take a weird turn, Carlos almost gets killed, but he's able to save himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no actual threats of murder, just Mal being, well, Mal.
> 
> i may have used these ideas before, don't kill me, i just wanted to do a little something different with it :)

“I don’t want anything for the holidays, don’t you fucking dare get me anything! Don’t steal, don’t make, don’t create, don’t buy. Nothing, got it?” Carlos stared at the three people in front of him. Of course he wanted new things, but he wanted to get them himself.  
He had also promised that he wasn’t going to get the others anything, but they never said he couldn’t build them anything. But, when he told Jay, Evie, and Mal that they weren’t allowed to do anything for him, they shot it back at him.  
“Fine. If we can’t do anything, neither can you!” Mal poked his chest, her eyes glowing green. His face flushed bright red, he looked at the floor, not responding. “You got something you wanna say, Spotty? Spit it out.”  
“I already did,” Carlos muttered, unsure if Mal was able to hear him. She lifted his chin up, forcing him to at least make eye contact for a second. She wanted him to repeat what he said. “I already made you guys something.” Jay and Evie stayed back, staring at Carlos, their eyes wide. They let Mal talk to Carlos alone.  
“If you already did something for us, then why don’t you want us to do anything for you?” Mal asked, her voice soft, comforting the boy that was near tears in front of her. She was their leader, she called the shots, she made sure everything was okay with everyone, putting them first.  
“I just, I don’t know… I guess I didn’t think that you guys would even want to get me anything, or do anything for me,” Carlos shrugged his shoulders, scuffing his shoes on the floor, looking at the ground, training his eyes anywhere but his partners.  
Mal scoffed, “Pup, of course we’re going to want to do something for you, especially if you do something for us. We don’t have to call them presents, we used to steal stuff for each other all the time on the Isle, no special occasions needed.” She pulled Carlos into her arms, holding him tightly. Without prompt, Evie and Jay both joined in hug, and they stayed like that for a few minutes. Mal listened to Carlos’ breathing even out as he calmed down from his near-breakdown.  
“C-Can I give you guys your things, then?” Carlos asked, his voice muffled by the three voices holding him. They all released him, allowing him to walk to his bed and grab three packages from underneath it. He turned around and handed the packages to each person, their names written on the wrapping. He turned away from them while they opened their (not) gifts, embarrassed by the whole ordeal.  
“Pup?” Jay’s voice swam in his ears. He couldn’t force himself to face Jay at the moment, but Jay was adament that Carlos face him before he continued. “Pup… C? Carlos, look at me.”  
Carlos turned to face his boyfriend, cheeks crimson, eyes closed. Jay was gentle as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Carlos’ cheek. Carlos flinched away from Jay’s hand, but it didn’t deter the other.  
“Open your eyes, look at me,” Jay’s voice was soft. Carlos complied, slowly opening his eyes and stared past Jay. “Carlos. Did you make this?” Jay asked, holding the device he was holding. Carlos only nodded, embarrassment causing the blush on his cheeks to rise to the tips of his ears.  
Jay didn’t speak after that, he just set the device down and held Carlos’ face in his hands, kissing him gently. Carlos’ eyes were watering, but he forced himself to not cry all over Jay. He was fine up until Jay told him he loved it.  
“What exactly is it, C?” Evie piped up. Jay knew exactly what it was, he had been mentioning that he needed a better why to wake up in the mornings and getting moving, so Carlos took it into his own hands to create that something.  
“It’s an alarm clock, it also has a setting that can help him train for Tourney and R.O.A.R. seasons. The alarm clock is set so that it only stops when it sees a specific movement, usually something related to exercise. The setting that helps with training, it’s basically the same thing as the alarm clock, but it is a thirty minute exercise routine that will keep him in shape and make him better,” Carlos started rambling. He stopped, eventually realising that he started talking and hadn’t shut up. He quickly apologised, but was quickly reassured that they loved hearing him talk about his inventions.  
“C, didn’t you do all the programming yourself, too?” Jay asked, grinning at Carlos, fully knowing the answer to the question. Carlos nodded, self-conscious about the attention on him. Jay ruffled his curls, giving him a quick kiss on his forehead.  
-  
“Is this what I think it is?” Mal and Evie both spoke at the same time, looking at Carlos and then looking at each other, grinning. They each held what Carlos had built in their hands with a gentle grip so they wouldn’t drop them.  
“What is it?” Jay asked, imitating Evie from a few minutes earlier. He peered up at the machines, trying to figure what they were without seeing the paper with instructions to how it worked.  
Carlos was very thorough with his inventions, he always wrote down a page or two (or five, sometimes it was complex - he can’t be blamed!) of instructions so whoever received the invention would know exactly how to use it. He would also occasionally give them fun names (sometimes the names were just simple, Carlos liked those more).  
“Well, Evie now has a fun little invention that can untangle thread, hold thread and fabrics, as well as hold information on recurring clients; i.e. us,” Carlos took the machine from Evie’s hands and held down a button, speaking into it. “Show information on Carlos.”  
“Measurements for Carlos de Vil,” the machine spoke out Carlos’ measurements before following with, “Usual colours include red, black, and white. Does not like pants. Pattern okay, no plaid.”  
“It’s connected to an app that people can download if they plan on using Evie’s service over a long period of time. It allows people to fill in their own measurements or Evie can do it. It also allows them to fill in their preferences on colours, patterns, and more. For Evie, it allows her to keep tabs on people, allow them the option to pay through the app, offer exclusive discounts and fittings, etc.,” Carlos was extremely proud of the little machine as well as the app. The app took a long time to develop and he had been working on it since Evie opened up Evie’s 4 Hearts.  
Evie could barely contain herself, flinging herself at Carlos and kissing him everywhere she could reach, leaving faint lipstick marks on his cheeks, forehead, and around his mouth. She loved the little machine, she’d finally be able to keep tabs on her finances.  
“Thank you so much, I love it! Now tell us about Mal’s,” Evie nudged Carlos, allowing him to talk about Mal’s new machine.  
“Mal, for yours, you can connect it to a computer or your phone even. It can digitalise your art, you can use it to sell copies of it, or post them on social media, whatever you want to do with it. It also has things on top of it that pop up and can hold paintbrushes, spray paint, and more. It also rotates and there’s a little surprise inside that is just for you,” Carlos was back to looking at the floor.  
Mal quickly figured out how to open the secret compartment and opened it, finding a gift card inside. She took it out, reading that it was a gift card to her favourite art supplies store.  
“Carlos, how much is on this?” Mal asked, glaring at Carlos. She knew how much was on it, she read the number, but she didn’t want to believe it was true.  
“It says how much-”  
“Carlos Oscar de Vil, I swear to Hades, if you actually put this much fucking money on a gift card for me, I’m going to end you,” Mal cut him off, threatening him for spending this much money on her.  
“Well, that’s not all that I spent, so you’ll have to kill me three times,” Carlos was trembling, he fished something out from under his pillows, handing them to Jay and Evie. They were gift cards, one to a sports center that Jay could get new Tourney gear, and one for Evie to get new materials at a nice crafts store.  
They all stared at Carlos, desperately trying not to kill him for spending so much on them, but they were also curious as to how he got that much money. So, they held off on making threats, asking questions first.  
“How?”  
“Did you kill someone?”  
“What the fuck, de Vil?”  
“Carlos, tell us.”  
“Dude, I’m gonna kill you.”  
“How’d you manage this?”  
Evie, Jay, and Mal spoke one after the other, serious expressions on their faces, staring at the younger boy who had shrunk back into a corner, desperately trying to hide himself. He had no reason to be embarrassed, he had done nothing wrong, it was all clean money, no crimes were committed.  
“I did some work for people. I built things for other students, nothing like what I built you guys, but small things. I got about a thousand out of Chad for installing the simple hacks on his own 3-D printer; did you guys know that he begged his parents for months for his own 3-D printer and then was mad that it wasn’t as good as mine?” Carlos forced himself to laugh. It was funny, but the other three weren’t laughing.  
“You got over six grand from students and now we each have gift cards totalling two grand each?” Evie choked out.  
“Yeah, the cashiers thought I had stolen all the money, but I reassured them I hadn’t and that the money was clean. The guy at the sports center did a background check on me, and then called the school. The school told him that I was at the top of the class, had never gotten detention, and I volunteered at the local animal shelters. He almost refused to give me the gift card, but literally everyone knows me there because I’ve spent a lot of time in there, fixing their computer systems and upgrading their security system,” Carlos went on a miniature rant about the guy from the sports center, but no one was listening to him, they were still caught up in the fact that Carlos spent over six thousand dollars on them combined.  
There was no way they were going to be able to top him this year. Maybe he knew that and maybe that’s why he told them.


	11. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY ELEVEN ; DECEMBER 24TH - HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS  
> Carlos is finishing up at university, and sure he and Jay have a townhome together, but Carlos spends his weekdays in his dorm, only coming home for the weekends.  
> So, when Carlos comes home after finishing his final exams, Jay decides to give Carlos an early gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> indulgent jaylos smut ft. trans!carlos  
> (kinks include: dildos - if you can count it & orgasm denial)

“I am so exhausted! Final exams really tired me out this year, I guess it’s from me taking far too many courses, my advisor told me it was too much, especially for my final year, but I told him that I wanted to finish this year. He told me with my workload, I would finish sooner, so guess who’s done with university!” Carlos flung open the door and dropped his bags on the ground next to him before flinging himself at his boyfriend. Jay smiled widely at his boyfriend, kissing him everywhere that he could reach. Carlos snuggled into Jay’s body, trying to steal all the warmth he could.  
“Are you too tired for an early gift?” Jay muttered, nibbling on Carlos’ earlobe. Carlos blushed, letting out a moan that he could not contain. Jay took that as a good sign, moving to nibble on the other earlobe as well.  
Carlos could only nod his head, not wanting to open his mouth, just in case he started moaning again. Jay laughed and practically flung Carlos off of him so he could stand up off the couch. Carlos stumbled on his feet, trying to catch his balance before falling, but was ultimately saved by Jay, who swung him up into his arms, carrying him into the bedroom and unceremoniously dropping him onto the bed.  
He was impatient, he had been waiting for Carlos to come home all day - and by all day, it was only four hours since he woke up. Carlos had been up much longer, doing some last minute studying for his last two finals. He couldn’t wait, he was notoriously impatient with the things he wanted. Carlos knew that, which is why he had sent Jay a small list of things he wanted Jay to do to him when he got home, and why he was now denying the existence of the list. Jay practically growled at Carlos, sitting on top of his boyfriend and pulled up the list on his phone.  
“I want you to overstimulate me and not let me cum until you say I can. I want you to finger me open and stuff me with a dildo and leave me tied up so it just vibrates inside me and I can’t do anything about it. I want you to fill me up with your cock and fuck me until I can’t take it anymore,” Jay stared at Carlos, watching as Carlos bit his lip and batted his eyes innocently at Jay. “Shall I continue with your list or just go ahead and start on you?”  
Carlos let out a small yip, biting down on his lip even harder. Jay tossed his phone down on their bedside table gently, before kissing Carlos roughly, taking over biting his lip for him. Carlos moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Jay’s neck, pulling him closer. He pulled on Jay’s shirt collar, wanting him to get undressed, but Jay unlatched Carlos’ hands and pinned them above his head.  
“Oh, pl-please, Jay,” Carlos whined, staring at Jay, giving him puppy-dog eyes. Jay couldn’t say no to his puppy-dog eyes, they both knew it.  
Jay sat up again and took one look at Carlos before taking off his own shirt, motioning for Carlos to do the same. While Carlos worked on his shirt, Jay worked on his pants and boxers, leaving his boyfriend completely nude while he kept his own pants on, knowing it would be a while before he even let Carlos catch a glimpse of his cock.  
“Suck,” Jay demanded, sticking two of his fingers near Carlos’ mouth. Obediently, Carlos wrapped his lips around the fingers, sucking gently, letting his tongue swirl around them. Jay smirked and pulled his fingers out, running his other hand down Carlos’ chest, stopping at his nipples so he could twist them. Carlos gasped, his fingers twisting in the sheets, both loving and hating the feeling.  
Jay quickly used the distraction to start his intrusion on Carlos’ hole. Carlos couldn’t stop the moan that slipped from his lips, pushing his body down onto Jay’s fingers to further the intrusion, feeling the slight stretch. Carlos let out another moan, quieter this time, but still loud enough that Jay heard it. Jay pulled his fingers out, letting them brush against Carlos’ clit. Carlos swore under his breath, too quietly for Jay to hear.  
“Don’t you dare move your body,” Jay growled, holding Carlos down at his chest. He could easily tease both of Carlos’ nipples, which Carlos swore up and down never turned him on, but Jay could tell that Carlos lied. So, Jay teased Carlos, not just his nipples, but his nipples as well as his clit.  
“Jay,” Carlos cried out, trying to listen to Jay’s command and not move his body, but he was struggling with his boyfriend teasing him.  
Carlos let out a whine, smacking his hands against the bed as Jay roughly shoved his two fingers back inside Carlos’ hole. Jay smirked and leaned down to kiss Carlos; he was gentle, a nice contrast to the abuse on his wet hole.  
“Shit, shit, more, I need more, more, please,” Carlos babbled, desperately needing Jay to give him another finger. He could hear Jay laugh as he continued to scissor Carlos open more before slowing down and adding another finger, stretching him out a little more before abruptly stopping.  
Carlos jolted at the sudden feeling of emptiness, whining until Jay slid his vibrating dildo up and down his stomach and chest, turning it on once he reached Carlos’ clit again. Carlos moaned, loving the feeling of the vibrations against his clit.  
“Please, Jay pl-” Carlos cut himself off at the slight intrusion of the dildo inside him. Jay kept it there, letting Carlos get used to the vibrations.  
“Keep begging and it’s going in without lube, got it?” Jay’s voice was deep, demanding Carlos’ silence. Carlos whimpered and nodded his head, closing his eyes and waiting to hear the sounds of the bottle of lube open and close. Eventually he did, he listened to Jay open the bottle and squeeze some out.  
“Ready?” Jay asked, seeing Carlos nod his head again and anticipate the feeling of the vibrations going deeper inside him. He bucked his hips up feeling the vibrations move in deeper. Jay didn’t try and stop him, he watched as Carlos squirmed, trying to get comfortable with the dildo inside him.  
“Think you can keep still with this in you while I go clean up in the kitchen for a moment?” Jay asked, kneeling over his boyfriend. Carlos opened his mouth to answer, but Jay didn’t allow him to answer before turning the vibrations up. The words Carlos was trying to form died on his lips and they were replaced with a moan. “Good boy.”  
Jay got up, his lips ghosting over Carlos’.  
“No, please, don’t leave me,” Carlos cried, opening his eyes long enough to see Jay walk out the door and close it behind him. Carlos whimpered, wanting so badly to disobey Jay, but he never disobeyed, it was his greatest weakness - no matter what was asked of him, he always followed through.  
He was getting antsy, he was trying not to cum, but he was close. He realised that Jay never tied him down and he could move. He debated disobeying Jay for the first time, he whined to himself, feeling the vibrations inside himself, the stimulation not enough anymore.  
So, Carlos moved, he cried out as he pulled the dildo out. He pulled himself up off his back and onto his knees, positioning himself on top of the dildo, ready to sink back down. He was impatient, he could feel the vibrations on his clit, he wanted to cum right then, but he knew he shouldn’t. He sank down quickly, sobbing at the feeling. He stayed like that for a few seconds before slowly coming back up off and doing it over and over again.  
“So, you think you can simply disobey me with no consequence?” Jay’s voice floated through the bedroom, startling Carlos. He stilled on top of the dildo, fully sat on it, letting the vibrations run through his body. He was near tears, getting the stimulation he needed. Jay pushed Carlos back onto his back, pulling the dildo out of Carlos and turning the vibrations off.  
“I’m sorry, I - I needed more,” Carlos averted his gaze, not wanting to meet Jay’s eyes. Jay, on the other hand, wanted Carlos to look at him, so he did what he had to do. He quickly stripped out of his pants and boxers, grabbing the condom he set on the bedside table next to the lube. He moved quickly, barely giving Carlos enough time to react to his movements.  
“You will regret that. You will be punished,” Jay was on top of Carlos again before he could protest. “You will not cum until I say, you’ll be lucky if I let you cum at all.”  
Carlos shuddered, letting himself fall open at Jay’s hand. He loved feeling Jay inside him, he was ready for it, and they both knew it. Carlos had taken Jay’s place as the impatient one, and Jay was loving it. He loved watching Carlos beg and moan below him.  
Jay didn’t waste any time pushing into Carlos, listening to the moans and whines and cries of the boy beneath him. He stilled inside Carlos, halfway in, listening to Carlos babble incoherently, begging for more, more, more. So, he gave him more, pushing fully into the boy, then nearly pulling all the way out before slamming back in.  
“How hard do you want it?” Jay asked, still pounding away at Carlos’ hole. Carlos couldn’t respond, he just nodded hoping Jay could understand that he wanted it harder. Thankfully, he did. So he went faster, allowing Carlos to make as much noise as he wanted.  
“Gonna, c-cu-” Carlos started, getting cut off by Jay telling him to hold off. Carlos cried out as he tried to do as he was told, Jay knew he couldn’t hold on any longer, they both knew it.  
“Just hold on for one more minute, baby, I’m so fucking close, I’m gonna finish you with my mouth, I’m gonna lick you up and make you scream, you want that?” Jay’s movements got sloppy, his body was spasming as he came, he pulled out of Carlos, quickly taking off the condom and tossing it in the direction of the trash can Carlos kept on his side of the bed.  
Jay moved down Carlos’ body, kissing down his chest as he went, licking across the two scars on his chest, below his nipples. Jay knew he was sensitive about them, he kissed them softly before moving up and sucking a hickey onto his collarbone, lightly fingering with his clit to keep him stimulated. Carlos was bucking his hips up into the feeling, needing everything Jay was giving and more.  
“Please, please Jay!” Carlos was close, he knew that no matter what order Jay gave, he wasn’t going to be able to listen. He desperately needed to cum. Jay heard the plea, moving down to start eating Carlos out, paying close attention to his clit. To give Carlos a little more, Jay stuck two fingers inside Carlos, hitting exactly where Carlos needed him to.  
“Come for me,” Jay pulled away just long enough to allow Carlos to cum before going back and licking Carlos clean as he came. Carlos sobbed as he came, half his body off the bed, the stimulation proving just enough to fully wreck him. He let his body fall back on the bed, breathing heavily and he tried to calm down.  
“Shit, fuck, I love you so much. I missed you, happy holidays, thank you for my gift,” Carlos breathed everything out in one go, letting his eyes slip shut. Jay laughed and kissed his cheek, getting up off the bed and getting a washcloth to wipe them both off with, even though they were both fairly clean.  
“I love you too, get some rest, babe.”


	12. Spoil Your Loved Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY TWELVE ; DECEMBER 25TH - FREE PROMPT  
> Carlos and Jay have adopted their first child, a nine-year old girl named Dusty.  
> They love her with everything they have to offer, and with the holidays coming up, they want to spoil her as much as possible.  
> But, a surprise leaves Carlos almost in tears.  
> This wasn't supposed to be about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no TWs, just future!jaylos with a child!!  
> enjoy.

“Daddy! Papa!” the young girl was ecstatic upon seeing both her parents coming to pick her up from school. She jumped into Jay’s arms, completely ignoring Carlos. Carlos feigned a hurt look, laughing as he did.  
“I can pick you up too, baby girl,” Carlos smiled and ruffled her hair. She turned in Jay’s arms and stared at her dad over her shoulder, rolling her eyes.  
“Yeah, but daddy is stronger than you, and you always pick me up from school! Daddy never does,” she said it like it was obvious, and she was right, Jay was stronger, and Carlos did pick her up from school - but only because he worked in the science wing while Jay worked after school as a Tourney coach.  
“Well, that’s because today was the last day of school and papa and I are taking you to pick out some things that you want for Christmas! We figured it’s your first holiday with us, so you can pick out whatever you want,” Jay spun her around in his arms, listening to her delighted squeals. She had a huge smile on her face as Jay slowed to a stop, facing Carlos. The boys looked at each other, Carlos had his own bag in his hand and their daughter’s bag swung on his back.  
“Alrighty, let’s go!” Carlos started off towards their car, his daughter wriggling out of Jay’s grasp, running after Carlos. Jay whistled for Carlos’ attention, tossing him the car keys so he could drive.  
Carlos wasn’t the best driver, but he knew the best ways to get into town and he was absolute shit with directions, so it was easier to just let him drive rather than deal with the failure of him trying to tell someone which way to go.  
-  
“Where are we going?”  
“All in good time dear,” Carlos grinned, pulling into a parking lot. Jay looked in the back seat, seeing their daughter look up at the sign, reading what it said.  
Her face lit up at the realisation that it was one of her favourite stores, the arts and crafts store. It had everything from crayons to physics experiments. Her latest craze: outer space, but also explosions. Carlos parked the car and all three scrambled out and ran into the building.  
“Okay, Ms. de Vil, we are at your service, where to first?” Jay bowed to his daughter, comically. She grinned and beckoned both her parents to follow her back to the space area. She had learned about the planets in class, but she wanted to know more, so she looked through everything the store had to offer and picked out her favourites. Jay snuck a couple extra things that she had been stuck on into their basket behind her back. He winked at Carlos and they shared a smile, hoping this would make her happier than she already was.  
She spent a few minutes wandering up and down the aisles, looking at everything that she could see, her eyes going wide as she looked at all the art supplies, recognising a few of the tools from when she hung out with her Aunt Mal.  
“Aunt Mal would like this!” she pointed to a paintbrush set and looked back at her dads. They looked at each other and nodded, agreeing with her. “Can we get it for her?”  
Jay took the set down and looked at it before putting it in the basket with everything else they had grabbed. She clapped her hands together and squealed, skipping ahead to the next aisle, beckoning for Carlos and Jay to follow her. So they did, laughing as they went. Carlos even went as far as skipping along with his daughter, making her laugh with her dad.  
“You want anything else? We’ve got to meet Mal and Evie at their house in a bit, and we don’t want to be late,” Carlos asked, ruffling his daughters hair. She shrugged, standing still and looking around the store before deciding that she was done. They led the way to the checkout before letting Jay take over talking to the cashier. Carlos was good at talking to kids and people his own age; Jay handled kids, people his own age, and older people. They had their own ways of dealing with people, Carlos just couldn’t handle older people, they freaked him out too much.  
-  
“Is that who I think it is?” Evie’s voice floated through the house and down to the front door. Jay and Carlos shared a look with one another and called out to Evie, hearing Evie’s squeal and her heels on the hardwood floor. They also heard Mal’s voice calling to hold off on opening the door. Evie was yelling back to Mal to hurry up as she was unlocking the door. Mal’s footsteps were heard as she came - nearly crashing into the door.  
“Open it, I want to see the little beast! Carlos and Jay haven’t stopped talking about little Dusty and it makes sad that I don’t get to see her more often,” Mal was never the sentimental type, she rarely told the boys that she loved them, she never let her guard down, but with their daughter, Mal couldn’t stop fawning over the little girl, making sure she knew how much she was loved.  
Evie opened the door, looking down and around, pretending like she couldn’t she couldn’t see the little girl bouncing up and down in front of her. Dusty, on the other hand, was bouncing around Evie, Carlos, and Jay. She hadn’t seen Evie or Mal in months, she loved her aunts almost as much as her dads.  
“Now, where oh where is that wily, little girl?” Evie called out, catching Jay’s eye and winking. Jay and Carlos both played along, roping Mal into their little game as well. Dusty was growing impatient and cold in the winter wind. Everyone heard her whines, laughing and bending down with her. Mal and Evie gathered her in a hug, squeezing her until she giggled.  
“Come on, let’s go in and get warm. We’ve got presents for you, Dusty!” Mal ruffled her hair, seeing the wide smile that broke out on her face. “And, you, we have a surprise for you as well.” Carlos tilted his head, having not expected anything during this trip other than Dusty have the best holiday ever.  
“What did you do?” Carlos asked, worry washing over him. Mal simply shrugged her shoulders, taking her niece’s hand and leading her inside. Carlos looked from Jay to Evie, desperate to figure out why he was being singled out. They both looked at each other and then to Carlos before smiling and walking inside to meet up with Mal and Dusty.  
-  
“You guys got me a Chemistry set?!” Dusty could hardly contain her excitement as she opened her final present. The little girl was definitely taking after Carlos with her love of science, of course, she had Evie’s love of Chemistry, it was all in due time that she would follow in her aunt’s footsteps. Jay smiled, he had his nerd of a husband and now they have a wonderful, smart daughter, eager to learn about anything and everything she could.  
“What do you say?” Jay gently nudged Dusty and reminded her of her manners. Dusty jumped up from her spot on the floor and hugged both Mal and Evie, thanking them over and over again. Mal and Evie hugged her back, letting her hold on to them.  
Once she let go, she sat next to Jay on the floor again, looking over the new books she received along with her Chemistry set. While Jay occupied Dusty with her new belongings, Evie and Mal each grabbed one of Carlos’ hands and pulled him off the couch and into the spare bedroom.  
“What the hell is going on?” Carlos let out a yelp as Mal all but gently flung him into the bedroom. The two girls closed the door, keeping Carlos in the bedroom, seemingly alone. He went to pound on the door, but he stopped, hearing a bark from the other side of the bed.  
“Here?” Carlos called out. There was silence, then nails against hardwood flooring, and then: dog. Carlos held in a squeal, seeing the dog come and sit politely in front of him. He noticed a piece of paper wrapped around his collar. He let the dog sniff him and deem him acceptable before he started scratching behind the dog’s ears and around his neck. He slipped the paper out and started reading,  
_Greetings, my name is Ein - well, it can be whatever you want, I’m yours now!_  
_I have gone through my basic training and now I am able to begin service dog training for you! I noticed that you have Autism and you are self-destructive; I am able to be trained to help you during meltdowns. I also noticed that you have a tendency to overwork yourself, even when it doesn’t seem like you’re doing much. I can be trained to alert you to an oncoming panic attack, fainting spell, or meltdown._  
_I can’t wait to get to know you, Carlos,_  
_Love, your new best friend, Ein_  
"They did not fucking do this," Carlos was on his knees, tears threatening to fall down his face. "This was supposed to be about Dusty, not me, not anyone else, but her." He set the paper down on the ground and let his hands travel to Ein, scratching his chin, his neck, and behind his ears. He was already in love with this dog and he'd only known him for a couple minutes.


End file.
